I currently ride a 2012 Orange 5 and love it but I’ve got a itch that needs scratching…a 29er itch. I read a ciuple oif reviews and a few forum posts but a little undecided.

Anyone gone from a 5 to a Gyro?

How capable are they? 95% of my riding is in the Lakes, I’m worried that I’m going to make a huge mistake getting rid of my 5.

I’ve only had my Gyro for a month or so but I went from a 140mm full sus (Nicolai Helius) and can’t say I regret it one bit.I initially bought a 29er hardtail alongside the Nicolai to see how I got on with it and I felt far more at home than on a 26er. I ended up selling both to build the Gyro.
It helped that I got my frame and forks for an absolute steal (less than £950 new)

They’re not light (around 30lbs) but I can honestly say it rides far lighter.

I’m North West based so most of my riding is calderdale/peaks/rivi/Pennines etc

Gratuitous pic on its first spin out

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Untitled by redmancunian69, on Flickr[/img]

I have a Gyro and its a very good bike, well specced (pro) and good fun to ride. Its an extremely capable bike. Agile, fast on descents, good on technical climbs although fire road climbing is a little slower than my old stumpy fsr.
Having said that I am selling it as i haven’t ridden it enough to justify its cost; I have been using my steel hardtail far more. I can email pictures etc if you are interested.

I’d buy Modkat’s at the drop of hat if I had the spare cash…

I’d suggest getting the chance to try one (demo day at Stif this sunday…& surely your in Orange country?), as this is going to be the only way for you to decide. I’ve been totally thrown by demoing one… I went to test two multi-linkage bike which were ace then tried the Gyro to see how bad it was in comparison. I’ve come away thinking I actually want the Gyro, in my defence (a poor one) I have a history of loving/preferring single pivot bikes & it had that classic feel and a very low centre of gravity.
What troubling me now is, are they going to change it any time soon? Slacker & shorter chainstays would be ace but annoying if you buy the current one..
For you I’d imagine life is complicated by whether the Five-29 or even the 650 version would be a more suitable alternative.

Latest review

Are there no more owners on here?

I have one. When i bought it my mates said “why have you bought this” they soon piped down when saw how fast i was on it. I also have an Alpine and i am faster downhill than on my alp its an amazing bike (for this country)

It should be noted that Bregante is 7’3″ of man-mountain 😀

Aww shucks binners, you’re making me blush now 😳

I had a four-day demo of a Gyro last April. There is a long rambling review on the site somewhere, but suffice to say I really enjoyed it. However, I haven’t bought one. In fact I bought a Five instead. I’m still not sure if that was the right call and if they do bring out an updated version of the Gyro this year I may well find it hard to resist. But here, in no particular order, are the reasons why I opted for the Five.

1. With the release of the 650B version, Bike Scene were knocking out 26″ Five frames at silly prices. Since I already had 26″ wheels etc I couldn’t resist.

2. I struggled a bit on long steep (but not technical) climbs on the Gyro, particularly when I was tired. Obviously, a steep climb is always tough when you are tired, but I had to get off and push on a couple of sections that I’d usually ride and that frustrated me. I suspect this was down to the heavy wheels on the demo bike and lack of a really low bottom gear as much as anything.

3. My hands and arms suffered a bit more than I was used to. This may have been down to hitting things faster, but was probably more to do with the 2013 Evolution CTD fork, which I needed to run in trail mode all the time to stop it diving. I think that first iteration of the CTD fork wasn’t the best and later versions are much better by all accounts.

4. The Five is more “playful” i.e. easier to lift the front wheel. I’m still not sure how important this is as it is largely offset by the fact that the bigger wheels smash over things more easily.

5. Although the Gyro is a better bike for all the riding I actually do, there was still a feeling that the Five might be a better bike to grow into. I’ve now changed my mind on this one as I realise that I’ll never get close to challenging the capabilities of the Gyro, let alone the Five, but it was a factor at the time.

Some-one some where (other than Guy Martin) must have an Orange coloured one? Please please someone post pictures…

Though I’ll amuse myself (as always) in the mean time..

As for man mountains, I ain’t a small person and wonder if the short stroke shock might be slightly overwhelmed by my (manly) bulk?

There are a couple on the Orange offers page http://www.orangebikes.co.uk/offers/

Very tempting 🙂

There’s a series of very good long term reviews of the Gyro by Gary Lake on cyclist no1 which pretty much sums up the bike for me.

http://www.cyclistno1.co.uk/blog/orange-gyro-mid-term-review.htm

I went from a 5 to a 5 29 and imo that’s the way to go. Just like a 5 but with the pro’s (and cons) of 29″ wheels. Doesn’t feel any bigger then my old 5 to ride. It’s ace. 😀

Great pedalling bike for big FO days out in big country. I’ve done bike packing epics + trail centre hammering, local techy riding and never really felt it limiting in any way. Coming from a 67 degree 26″ bike ( Yeti ASR 5) it felt slightly less confidence inspiring at first on steep techy descents, but was actually way faster. This improved with playing with different set ups + getting used to slightly different handling and getting used to the speed. If you let go of the brakes it proper flies down stuff + you need to be on it, but its a hoot. Think Gary tried his set up more DH/Enduro for a bit, but I got the impression that killed it a bit.
Its not like a big 5, its a different bike. Try one.

Some great replies here – thanks. The cheap deals on frame only and on the Pro versions is VERY tempting.

What forks are people running? I use a 150mm Rev on my 5 which can be dropped to 120mm for climbs which I find invaluable.

I’m not pretending to be a downhill god, but I do push my 5 hard, so still wondering if the Gyro is for me…think I may nip to Stiff on Sunday to see if I can swing my leg over one.

Running 130mm Rev’s Not sure if Orange would love this set up.
Might be worth having a go on a Codeine if you can. They look great for harder, more up/down riding.

only “warranted for 120mm” now, but the 2012 release was said be ok for 140mm…

Stif have Gyro’s and five-29er at the demo & BBQ! , though the Codeine does look good if you want “more”

I only testrode them, but I didn’t feel like the Gyro was really better at anything than the Five- pedals similarly, comparable weight. Couldn’t help but also compare it to the Whyte 129 and go hmm.

I really liked the Five 29, though. Always feels like Oranges get better as they get bigger but riding it around glentress it never felt like “too much bike”. I could have one and use it exacty the same as you’d use a normal Five.

I should add Northwind’s comments (and the Five29 in general) to the reasons why I didn’t buy a Gyro last year.

The Gyro should be a bike for those that want something with more of an XC bias than a Five. Something, as Mal-ec says, for those big, FO, mountain rides. Something a bit like the Five of 6-7 years ago in fact. The Gyro ticks those boxes, until you start to compare it with the Five29 and realise that it is really no lighter and the chainstays are just as long. If I’m going to have 456mm chainstays I might as well have 140mm of travel rather than 110mm. But a Five29 is a harder hitting bike than a regular Five (more akin to an Alpine in intended use) and I came in looking for something with an XC focus.

By the way, Guy Martin apparently has a 1 degree angle reducing headset in his Gyro. Not sure what forks he’s running, but the Gyro was originally rated for up to 140mm. I suspect it was reduced partly to create a clearer distinction between the Gyro and Five29 i.e. if you need 140mm you should be on a Five29.

There are some good deals available on the Gyro at the moment. Bike Scene can provide frames in any size and any colour at £400 off, which is pretty much unheard of for a current model Orange and Orange themselves have a few on their offers page. All of which suggests, to me, that either there is a new model just around the corner or they are just not selling (or both).

FWIW I’ve ridden allot this WE + this discussion was in my head for some of it. Gave it full beans round Brechfa red + black yesterday. I know its not particularly gnarly but plenty of fun wee jumps and lots of flowing singletrack. Having a dropper post makes a big difference to being able to work the bike and get some leaning going on. Makes a big difference. Decent front tyre (Hans Dampf) and wheels (Hopes Archs) similarly. I forgot about that stuff, as I changed it a while ago. Big techy single track ride with lots of climbing + descending today with a couple of linking sections.

Can’t think of another bike I’d rather have been on.

I generally like bikes which pedal and climb well but can be pushed hard and are capable when required. Good at getting you to the good stuff + don’t let you down when you’re there.

Further thoughts… After riding a Whyte 129 today, I wouldn’t buy a Gyro even if it cost the same- I didn’t love the Whyte either to be honest but it outshines the Gyro, I couldn’t think of a single thing the Orange was competitive at.

YMMV of course but if you’re considering a Gyro do try a Five and a 129.

Here you go from its 3rd outing today.[/url]
Gyro by bear406z, on Flickr[/img]

I couldn’t think of a single thing the Orange was competitive at.

It’s not grey 🙂

Touche. Yeah, the Whyte is very boring to look at, nothing quite like an orange orange. (mine is blue ffs.)

Five29 here too…
Never ridden a gyro, but can give a big thumbs up to its bigger brother.

Saw this on ebay

Orange-Gyro

That’s a brand new bike (presumably with full warranty etc) from a UK shop with a 33% discount! Maybe I’ve not been paying attention, but I can’t ever recall seeing a Five with that kind of discount. Makes me wonder whether these just aren’t selling for some reason. Either way it’s a good deal for somebody that wanted one but was put of by the £3K price tag.

Northwind – Member

Further thoughts… After riding a Whyte 129 today, I wouldn’t buy a Gyro even if it cost the same- I didn’t love the Whyte either to be honest but it outshines the Gyro, I couldn’t think of a single thing the Orange was competitive at.

The largest frame size for the Whyte is 19″ while the Gyro (and the 5) go up to 21″.

I have also test rode the Gyro a couple of times. I found it surprisingly happy to launch itself off little jumps and the like but otherwise nothing really shone about it.

Now I’d say the same about the Whyte (not shining), I test rode both side by side and thought the T-129 nothing special, don’t get me wrong it is a very good bike. Though I preferred the geo of the whyte (fix the gyro with an angleset), I wasn’t as worried about the longer rear end, as I expected. I believe I’m totally ambivalent to multi-linkage suspension (magic carpet ride of deadness), where-as the single pivots I’ve owned (Marin/SC/C’dale) feel so much more engaging & fun to ride with the feedback from the rear end. Maybe I’m just weird, but am I alone… with the Five (and other single pivots) still going after so many years.
I don’t believe the Gyro is for everyone, but then a long travel 29 is not for me either.

Well after a demo on a Gyro and a Stumpy 29er…I went for the Stumpy!

I love Orange bikes and I liked the Gyro but all things considered – spec, weight, price, technologies, I was leaning toward the Stumpy.

The riding position on the Stumpy felt more like my 5 and I can’t explain why, but it just felt better for me. It was definitely good to ride them back to back.

If I hadn’t had the chance to ride the Stumpy then I probably would’ve gone with the Gyro and been happy with it.

Interesting… cheers for the update.

I bought one after trying a Camber Carbon, Whyte 129S and a Trek that I can’t remember. It just felt the most playful of the 4 and seemed to suit me.

I’d have loved something “bigger” but for the riding I actually do the XC bias made most sense. I’ve upgraded to full XT and have some Pro2/LB carbon wheels on route. Recently I’ve been running a HD front NN rear and it’s nice. I did have to fit a volume spacer into the shock though as it went through the travel too easily.

I did buy a second hand one though, the price for new Orange kit is crazy. Therefore I was stuck with black. But, it will be getting painted orange asap!